View Article Details

The editorial board of the State Journal-Register offers this week’s thumbs up/thumbs down.

Thumbs Up: To the school supply drives held recently throughout our area.

There have been numerous events that collected book bags, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, paper and more to make sure area kids don’t go without once that first bell rings to start the 2017-18 academic year.

A strong educational foundation is needed for today’s kids to become tomorrow’s workforce. Children need to have the tools necessary to succeed, and no kid should struggle because a family has fallen on hard times. We applaud the various groups and organizations for holding events, and thank those who have donated.

In Springfield, those still wishing to give can drop off supplies at the Springfield School District’s administrative office at 1900 W. Monroe St. Contact your district to see if there are needs to still be met, or visit DonorsChoose.org to donate to fundraising efforts spearheaded by area teachers to benefit their students.

Thumbs Down: To the state for missing, for the first time in Illinois history according to the comptroller’s office, a General State Aid payment to school districts.

As the more than 850 school districts throughout Illinois prepare for the first day of class, they expected to receive the first General State Aid payment on Thursday. Instead, partisan politics — which led to the two-year budget impasse that caused the devastation of the state’s social services net and the worsening of Illinois’ business climate — has reared its ugly head again.

While the state finally has a budget, a new funding formula is required to distribute dollars earmarked for K-12 education. That formula is in Senate Bill 1, but the Senate held onto it for two months before sending it to Gov. Bruce Rauner, who, as promised, vetoed it.

The Senate, controlled by Democrats, shouldn’t have sat on SB 1 for so long. The governor, a Republican, should have had an analysis of his proposal ready to go so it would be clear what his changes would mean for each district. Instead, Illinois’ schoolchildren are the new hostages in the partisan war always being waged in the Land of Lincoln. They deserve better from our elected officials.

Thumbs Up: To those leading the Springfield Rail Improvements Project for keeping the community informed about its progress.

From periodic open houses to a newsletter mailed to residents to its informative website at www.springfieldrailroad.com, they’ve done their best to keep the public informed about the project that will transform rail passages in Springfield. According to the project website, it will “relocate all passenger and freight traffic from the Third Street corridor to Tenth Street; construct roadway underpasses at critical rail crossings on both the Tenth and Nineteenth Street corridors; and eliminate train horns in the city between Stanford Avenue and Sangamon Avenue.”

We crave transparency from our governments, and here is a case of that happening without us having to demand it. The city is leading the rail consolidation effort, along with Sangamon County and the Illinois Department of Transportation. The next public open house is from 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at the Bank of Springfield Center.

Thumbs Up: To the expansion of the organ donor registry in Illinois.

Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Tuesday the Drive for Life Act, a bipartisan measure that allows those who are 16 and 17 to express their wishes to join the First Person Consent Organ and Tissue donor registry.

Illinois teenagers who are 16 and older can join the donor registry when they receive their driver’s licenses or state ID cards. Parents will retain the right to give, or revoke, consent until the donor turns 18.

The change could add thousands to the registry. More than 4,700 Illinois residents are on the waiting list for an organ transplant in the state, according to a news release from Rauner, and about 300 die while waiting while waiting for a transplant. The governor’s assessment of the bill is spot-on: “We need to give everyone who wants to become an organ donor the opportunity to do so, and that’s exactly what this bill does.”